President Joe Biden delivers remarks on new efforts to cancel student loan debt at the White House on October 4, 2023.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
With the 2024 presidential election cycle picking up steam and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, political conversations are dominating Americans’ news and social media and spilling over into the workplace.
According to recent online overview Conducted in October by Glassdoor, 61% of US workers say they have discussed politics at work with co-workers at some point in the past 12 months. In the past year, 8% of online discussions on Company Bowls, Glassdoor’s online chat stream for employees, mentioned Joe Biden or Donald Trump, and more than 21% were about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel.
Men (67%) are more likely than women (54%) to talk about politics with their colleagues, and younger generations are more likely to engage in political discussions than their older colleagues. Overall, men aged 35 and over and women aged 18-34 appear to be the most likely to talk about politics with their co-workers.
“I think for a long time it was considered taboo to talk about politics in the workplace, but these conversations have always happened to some extent either at lunches or at bars and happy hours and now they happen in a lot of other places. the changing world of work,” Glassdoor Chief Economist Aaron Terrazas tells CNBC Make It.
“Younger generations in particular expect these conversations to happen in the workplace and expect leadership to be vocal on issues that matter to them.”
Overall, 64% of employees said they feel supported when their company takes a strong stance on political issues they care about. With Gen Z and Millennial respondents, that number jumps to 70% and 71%, respectively. Looking at Gen Z and Millennial women alone, the figure rose even more to 81%, compared to about 60% of Gen Z and Millennial men.
But political statements carry risks, Terrazza says. Working populations are diverse and an attitude that supports some may ultimately alienate others. About 36% of respondents said they would not apply for an open position if company leadership supported a political candidate they disagreed with, and about 31% said they would even consider leaving their current position. For Gen Z employees, those numbers rose to 49% and 44%, respectively.
One Glassdoor user called the political statements a “double-edged sword.”
“My company took me a position and not a position I agree with, which to me is much worse than not taking at all because now it forces me to support that position by working for them if I choose to stay in my job,” the anonymous wrote on the platform the executive director.
However, this does not necessarily mean that company leaders should avoid political discussions all together. Terrazas says it’s important for executives to monitor how employees view political events before making any company-wide statements about controversial events.
Terrazas says the growing presence of politics at work is part of a broader shift toward the democratization of the workplace. Instead of employees having to support what company leadership believes, he believes that employee input should be incorporated into corporate statements made.
“Especially as we move into the next year, it will be even more important for company leadership to keep an open mind on these controversial issues and stay in touch with where their employees perceive them,” he says.
As a mid-level executive himself, he says it’s important to have these policy discussions within teams and then relay the feedback you get to senior management.
Caroline Hopper, executive director of the Citizenship and American Identity program at the Aspen Institute, agrees. In an interview with CNBC Make It in 2020, Hopper said that in a work environment where political discussion is considered taboo, speaking is left to the loudest and often most polarizing voices with public platforms, which can lead to more conflict.
When approaching political discussions at the office he said to follow these principles: don’t try to win, listen empathetically, learn what experience formed that opinion, be willing to learn and change your mind, and know when a conversation won’t be productive.
“A ‘better argument’ is one in which all parties respect the humanity of others,” Hopper said. “Well, there are cases where a line has to be drawn and the exchange can’t be productive.”
An earlier version of this article misstated where the unnamed executive director made his comments.
DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work and life? Sign up for our new newsletter!
I get CNBC’s Warren Buffett’s Free Guide to Investingwhich distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best advice for regular investors, the dos and don’ts and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guide.